Montevideo getting around · Getting Around in Montevideo
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Getting Around in Montevideo
Getting Around in Montevideo
Montevideo is not a large city and it boasts a very efficient public transportation system, so getting around is not difficult at all. If you are not bashful about your Spanish, feel free to ask people which bus route you need to take to get to your destination as it can be effective and cheap. If you know some Spanish, here is a very useful website very similar to GoogleMaps (Montevideo's Public Transportation Route Planning):
It is useful to know that if you choose to ride a bus, upon boarding you will pay either the driver or the assistant who sits on the right-hand side of the bus (door-side) a few seats from the entrance. There is a small device that will dispense your receipt, make sure you hold on to it for the duration of your ride as sometimes government officials will board your bus checking for these receipts (making sure no one is riding unauthorized). If you are unsure where to get off you can always ask the driver or assistant to let you know when your stop is coming up and they'll be happy to comply. Just try to remain visible so they can tell you (though if the bus gets full and you're displaced to the back they'll yell out the street name). It is also important to note that you do not need to have the exact fare as the driver or the assistant carry change. Of course, expect disgruntlement if you pay with a bill 20 times the fare.
The city's central terminal is called Tres Cruces. Aside from being a full-fledged mall, it sports companies with fully-equipped tour buses that can take you anywhere in Uruguay and even into neighboring countries. We paid UYU179.00 one-way to Colonia, about 2 to 3 hours. Efficient and on time. All destinations, timetables and hours are available online . Any bus from the airport marked "Montevideo" will reach Tres Cruces in about half an hour and cost 31 pesos. It helps to ask the bus driver to inform you when to get off, because the Tres Cruces terminal building is rather nondescript from some sides and you may miss it.
Taxis are plentiful but not too cheap (gasoline is expensive in Uruguay). It helps to know a little Spanish. A ten-minute cab ride costs about UYU100. Taxis are metered and upon the end of your ride you are shown a chart depicting distance and cost (though on some vehicles this chart will be on the window between you and the driver). Generally there are two fare schedules. The first is for Monday-Saturday from morning to mid-evening. The second fee schedule is for Sundays and late at night, and is slightly more expensive. Tipping is not expected, but you might round up to an even number to be polite. It is also not uncommon to sit on the front.
Car rental is cheaper if booked ahead but be aware that places like the airport and the ferry terminal charge higher rates then the same agencies in other locations around the city. A few phone calls and a cheap taxi ride to a location other than the air or sea ports will save you half the rate for the same car at the same company.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Montevideo
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Montevideo Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.